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Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Nose to scale

On Sunday morning I escaped my chores and fled to the City Market to watch Martin Bosley deal to a practically still-flapping snapper (a kind of bream, to Northern Hemisphere readers). It was 90 minutes of brilliance.
I don't do this sort of thing very often, in fact the last time I went to any kind of cooking demo was to a risotto masterclass at Carluccio's in Covent Garden. I was massively pregnant, ravenous, and unable to drink any of the chianti my fellow classmates were knocking back. This was a rather different kettle of, err, fish.
Martin, who is a bit of a megastar among New Zealand chefs, turned this 3kg beast into tartare and carpaccio, then baked the fillets in a soy-mirin glaze before serving up the head with a lemony beurre blanc. The assembled group looked on admiringly, sipping glasses of Gisborne chardonnay ("It has to be past noon somewhere in the world," the man sitting next to me said cheerily.)
It was an incredible, inspiring class. I admit, I don't have the knife skills to make carpaccio at home, but I feel confident enough to tackle the head. Now it's just a matter of catching one...

Martin Bosley, left, and his lovely assistant, Seamus

If you are in Wellington over the next few months you should definitely check out the other classes on offer. Martin Bosley will be back again the weekend before Christmas, but there are lots of other great people scheduled in before then. Go on, you know you want to...
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I have been to a couple of days like this.Manly because friends give me those as present on my birthday,Xmas etc.Sounds like great fun this one.Sorry you couldn't have any Chianty..plenty of time to rectify that:)

I've been to a few cooking demos but I always find it hard to concentrate because I'm watching the poor downtrodden assistant to the celebrity chef (there always seems to be one) and wondering how long it will be before he or she shouts "That's it! I quit!" and storms off. Never happened yet, but maybe next time....